Book Review: The House of My Mother: A Daughter’s Quest for Freedom by Shari Franke

Rating: ★★★★★ (5/5)

---

Introduction:

Released January 2025. Read January 2025.

As a parent myself, this one made me want to put both Franke parents under the jail along with Jodi. The House of My Mother by Shari Franke is a well frank look at how one daughter navigated an emotionally tumultuous childhood followed by trying to save her siblings from the woman who birthed them.

---

Summary: A Brief Overview (Without Major Spoilers)

Shari doesn’t hold back. She starts out with early memories of minor physical punishment and how at a young age she had to deal with an emotionally unavailable and unstable mother. When I tell you, I wanted to punch a bitch… Ruby and I would have thrown hands if she had lived in a community near me.

We move into Shari’s life as she prepares to leave for college and is faced with the fact that her parents have opened her up to other monsters in the world. Instead of equipping their daughter to understand boundaries, they focused on not making mommy mad. It left her prime for the wolves to attack.

Thankfully Shari realized she needed help and got it. Her siblings eventually were rescued as well. (Not a spoiler. Well documented.)

---

What Worked for Me:

Shari’s vulnerability. She peeled back the curtain in her own words. There has been so much media coverage of the Franke case and finally Shari is able to tell her story.

---

What Didn’t Work for Me: Trigger Warnings and Criticisms

That being said, not everything about the book completely worked for me. There are a few spots in here that triggered me and were harder to read. If reading about child abuse makes your stomach churn, be aware. There were instances of grooming that were discussed that I was not prepared for and made me feel uneasy.

---

Final Thoughts:

To start 2025 off, this book was a great start. For Shari to get to have a voice that was her own was powerful. She was raised in a house that constantly put her in the spotlight. She finally gets to shine in her own space with her own words.